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Daily Briefing

It's a busy day in Beijing, where Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen started a series of meetings with Chinese leaders, and top Iranian and Saudi envoys met in a restoration of diplomatic ties.

Plus, Apple says 'Hello Mumbai' with its first India store launch.

By Edson Caldas

Today's Top News

Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron review troops during an official ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Diplomacy under the spotlight

French President Emmanuel Macron urged China's Xi Jinping to reason with Russia and help bring an end to the war in Ukraine as the two held the first of a series of meetings in Beijing. Macron's visit alongside EU chief Ursula von der Leyen could set a new course for the bloc's relations with China after years of strained ties.
The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia also met in Beijing, for the first formal meeting of their top diplomats in more than seven years. We take a look at their history of ups and downs and explain how ententes in the region are playing out. The Reuters World News podcast explores why Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is looking to Beijing not Washington as he goes into diplomatic overdrive.
During a visit to Warsaw, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Poland would help form a coalition of Western powers to supply warplanes to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces cling on in Bakhmut. Follow this and other developments in the war.
The meeting between US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is also making headlines. McCarthy became the most senior US figure to meet a Taiwanese leader on US soil in decades. After China condemned it as "acts of collusion", Taiwan was keeping watch on a Chinese aircraft carrier but did not expect a large escalation in tensions, the government said.

Trump, after historic criminal charges

Former US President Donald Trump called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the Justice Department and the FBI, one day after pleading not guilty in New York to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Analysis: For prosecutors to win their unprecedented case, they must meet the heavy burden of proving that Trump knowingly tried to cover up a crime by hiding a hush money payment. It's a question of intent, legal experts said.

Business & Markets

Banking sector turmoil has not dented demand for equities. Hopes that the Federal Reserve and others could soon pause the most aggressive interest rate hiking cycle in decades has supported stocks even as sentiment more generally has been rattled by the failures of two US lenders and Credit Suisse's merger with UBS. But under the surface, bad omens for world stocks are building.
In Germany, complaints from consumers about banks and other financial firms rose by a fifth last year, official data shows, as regulators flex their muscles to shore up trust in the sector.
The record number of developing nations at risk of a debt crisis will be high on the agenda next week when central bankers, finance ministers and political leaders convene for the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund spring meetings. Here is a look at countries facing a debt crisis.
OpenAI plans to present measures to Italian authorities to remedy concerns that led to a ban of its ChatGPT chatbot in Italy, the country's data protection authorities said. The Italian agency accused OpenAI of failing to check the age of users and the "absence of any legal basis that justifies the massive collection and storage of personal data" to "train" the chatbot.
Britain will investigate Amazon.com's anticipated takeover of robot vacuum maker iRobot, the country's competition regulator said. The e-commerce giant's planned $1.7 billion acquisition, aimed at expanding its stable of smart home devices, is already being reviewed by the US Federal Trade Commission.

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And Finally...

A general view of the barricade of India's first Apple retail store, that will be launched soon, at Jio World Drive Mall, in Mumbai, India, April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

Apple revealed the look of its first retail store in India, as several people tried to catch a glimpse outside the store's black and yellow artwork patterned after Mumbai's iconic taxis. The store is still in barricades and is likely to open this month, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Read more here: Apple says 'Hello Mumbai' at first India store launch

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